Articles
Everyone, who made an attempt for independent culture in Brno in the 1980s came into contact with Lenka Zogatová. Nothing changed until her premature death a year ago and nothing changes even now. Everyone can see for themselves this evening in HaDivadlo and tomorrow at Fléda. more
Theatre work and fame is extremely fleeting. Man does his job for many years, he leaves and there remains almost nothing except memories, which also gradually fade. Jiří Pinkas was the chief conductor of the Brno opera for thirteen years and for some time he worked in the Brno Philharmonic. more
The area of the so called “Great” Brno emerged when the city centre and the surrounding villages merged together, which contributes to its specific nature. You can merely stretch out your hand, take a few steps and you find yourself in the countryside. Folk traditions are so close to the city centre that they actually feel like home there. more
There are singers who have been connected with Brno for their entire career. Vladimír Tomš sang here during the first performance of the opera by Otakar Ostrčil, Honza's Kingdom, which was a major event in 1934, and then he just came back here to die. His artistic triumph and end shook hands in Brno. more
Let us sing together, but let us sing properly and without mistakes. If Brno and Moravia owes someone for its choir tradition and reputation, then it is Ferdinand Vach. more
She began to compose music already as a child, she had undeniable talent, during her short life, she won the acclaim of audiences and official recognition. The diminutive name Vitulka contradicts rather than resonates with confident orchestral compositions. more
Of all the Christian holidays, Christmas is the musically richest and it is usually hard on musicians. They are, however, not angry about it ; besides a certain extra income, Christmas music brings them an indefinable feeling of Christmas which takes them back to their childhood and can be experienced just once a year. Even the Bolshevik failed to eradicate this, no matter how hard he tried. Once, when there were comments from the region that members of the philharmonic organisation attend Christian churches during the holiday and serve black clericalism, the philharmonic officers voted (with calendars already full of Christmas ceremonies) that they will not even step inside a church this time – and then they watched, clenching their teeth, how their warm seats in the choir stalls were occupied by their colleagues from the opera where they did not take servility so seriously. more
Jan Skácel would most resolutely protest against the presence of his person in the gallery of musical figures from Brno which this commemorative series is supposed to be. Although raised in a family of teachers in Moravian Slovakia, he had a clear idea of his (non)musicality. You cannot talk about music to me, I have no ear for music, I do not listen to music and I do not understand it. Already in kindergarten in Poštorná, he stubbornly refused to sing with the other children and looked as obstinate then as he did his whole life (Janek will have a hard life, Mrs. Skácelová used to say about her elder son, he will not know how to deal with people as well as Petr). And at the time when he was thinking about a university career as an assistant at the newly-established faculty of education, he talked about musicological education with much scornfulness. more
“Mario’s” or “Ander’s” were not only visited by Brno cultural bohemians, poets; writers, painters, actors, but also by important figures from all other possible fields. In 1960 and 1970 it was almost a cult place, whose importance still awaits acknowledgement, contemporaries quickly leave this world. more
On Saturday 21 March 1953 a group of players of the then Symphonic Orchestra of the Brno region with the conductor Waldhans set off to their traditional first spring walk after one of the rehearsals; they spent afternoon in the hills overlooking Královo Pole and were on their way back to Černá Pole, they made a lot of stops and tried to say goodbye many times but unsuccessfully. Finally, one of them remembered that two of their colleagues were playing in a home quartet at the Hrubeš family that evening; we rang the doorbell of their basement flat in Helfertova street before midnight and started to congratulate the famous opera singer on the first spring night. The quartet was on their way home with their instruments but Eduard found other instruments in his collection, distributed them among the new guests (Waldhans was given a wooden spoon) and he made the ensemble play the whole Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart. more
The holiday series of Leoš Janáček’s texts Něco o hudbě brněnské (Something about music in Brno) will be concluded by his confession to the city where he spent the majority of his life. It is the year 1866 and Brno is occupied by the Prussian army...
Another part of the series of articles by Leoš Janáček about Brno singer associations is dedicated to the Slavonic singer association of Brno technicians “Zora”. more
I used to listen to Vilém Přibyl in the Janáček Theatre as a kid and he was one of the few singers who stayed in my memory into the future. He stayed in my head despite several years of a teenage break when opera completly left my life. I am not saying that I recognised his extraordinary abilities already as a child but I did not remember him due to an unusual costume or a non-musical event, so there must have been something about him. more
This November it will have been ninety years since the composition of the first of the two string quartets by Leoš Janáček. The composition, which is today a natural part of the international quartet repertoire, has a subtitle which is understood only by a few at first sight: Motivated by the Kreutzer Sonata by L. N. Tolstoy. The name of the Belgian violin virtuoso Rodolphe Kreutzer lives today in the collection of great etudes, which must be mastered by every professional violinist, and then in the said sonata, which however was not written by him, but by Beethoven – he dedicated it to him. Another Kreutzer Sonata was written by Tolstoy, not as a sonata but as a more extensive novel: In that, Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata is the literary motif of one of the characters in a love triangle, a demonic violinist, who charms a young lady, the wife of the narrator, who eventually becomes her murderer. more
The tenth edition of the international opera and music festival Janáček Brno 2026 will take place from 13 October to 17 November 2026. With Janáček’s complete operatic output at its heart, alongside a programme of concerts and accompanying events, the festival offers a unique celebration of the composer’s work on an international scale. As part of the festival preview, National Theatre Brno is presenting four operas by Leoš Janáček (1854–1928) ahead of the festival itself. The series began on Saturday, 5 September, with The Makropulos Affair, which also opened Brno’s 2026/27 opera season. more
The fifth edition of the Štetl Fest of Jewish culture in Brno began on Wednesday, 26 August. And the very first day had a great deal to offer. Among other things, it showed that even an alternative theatre venue can host a world-class concert – and one that is free of charge. The opening ceremony featured a performance by the band Der Šenster Gob, with Jewish singer Lea Kalisch, in the courtyard of the Husa na provázku theatre. more
The summer open-air Festival Špilberk, organised by the Brno Philharmonic, brought classical music and other genres to the grand courtyard of Brno’s Špilberk Castle during the third week of August. The festival’s 27th edition culminated on Sunday, 23 August, with Carl Orff’s cantata Carmina Burana, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies with the Czech Philharmonic Choir Brno. The concert also marked a symbolic farewell to trombonist Jiří Vydra, who brought his 45-year career with the Brno Philharmonic to a close that evening. more
The Špilberk Festival organised by the Brno Philharmonic has put together a rich programme for the third week of August. This year’s 27th edition of the traditional open-air festival will once again fill the grand castle courtyard with music, with the aim of making classical music accessible even during the summer holidays. Tenor Štefan Margita chose this occasion to celebrate his 70th birthday. Together with soprano Jana Šrejma Kačírková and conductor Jan Kučera, Margita presented a concert of opera and musical arias on Saturday, 22 August. more
Every year, ahead of the new concert season, the Brno Philharmonic organises the week-long open-air Špilberk Festival in the great courtyard of Brno’s Špilberk Castle, featuring a diverse programme of genres and ensembles. On Thursday, 20 August, the festival project entitled Erik Truffaz & Gustav Brom Czech Radio Big Band: Around Miles was performed to commemorate the centenary of the birth of jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. This third concert in the series was co-produced with JazzFest Brno and Czech Radio and broadcast live on Czech Radio’s Vltava station. more
The third concert of the 35th BRNO ’26 International Guitar Festival and Masterclasses took place on Tuesday, 4 August, in the Council Chamber of the New Town Hall. World-renowned guitarist Jorge Caballero presented a solo recital of works by classical composers arranged for acoustic guitar. On this occasion, the festival director Vladislav Bláha and his wife Tatiana Bláha Drobyš presented their new CD Dances Across the World and Through Time. more
The concert by the Brno Contemporary Orchestra in the courtyard of Brno’s Špilberk Castle on Tuesday, 16 June, offered the audience a chance to hear the castle’s carillon in quite a different guise – as a solo musical instrument. Entitled Vězeňské zvony (Prison Bells), the performance alluded not only to the existence and function of the carillon itself but also to the complex history of the castle. The concert featured harpsichordist Daria Savvateeva, soprano Irena Troupová, and Petr Hladík as carillon player. more
The prologue to the Concentus Moraviae festival took place, unusually, in the Italian city of Cremona – home of the Walter Stauffer Foundation and Academy, which nurtures string teaching and the city’s traditions – as early as mid-April. This year the Foundation concluded a memorandum of cooperation with the festival, resulting in the String Quartet Master Classes project in Kroměříž on 16–18 June. The stage was set on 15 June at Pernštejn Castle, where the Italian Quartetto di Cremona joined forces with cellist Peter Jarůšek for a memorable concert. more
A Piece of Kroměříž in Brno at the Church of St John
The final concert of the 14th season of the Bacha na Mozarta (Watch Out for Mozart) series drew audiences to the Minorite Church of St John on Monday, 8 June, for a programme drawing on the collections of the Kroměříž Music Archive. The evening’s programme brought together specific liturgical forms with the representational demands of the courtly culture of the time. Performed by the SILENTIUM! ensemble under the direction of Tomáš Netopil and with choral preparation by Tereza Válková, the concert featured works by Pavel Josef Vejvanovský, Giovanni Felice Sances, Franz Ignaz Biber, and Philipp Jacob Rittler, some in their modern-day premieres. more
The Concentus Moraviae festival presented its sixteenth concert of the year, thematically dedicated to the number four, at Valtice Castle on Sunday, 7 June. This year’s international showcase brings together quartets of the most varied instrumental combinations and genres, presenting programmes across Moravia and Lower Austria centred on the quartet repertoire. In this spirit, the Baroque theatre of Valtice Castle hosted, in collaboration with the Young Classical Artists Trust, a concert focused on world music performed by the international Fibonacci Quartet. The young quartet – specifically Kryštof Kohout and Luna De Mol on violin, Elliot Kempton on viola, and Findlay Spence on cello – chose masterpieces by Leoš Janáček (1854–1928) and Béla Bartók (1881–1945). more
The cycle of classical music concerts directed by its founder, Barbara Maria Willi, has been an integral part of cultural events in the Moravian capital for twenty-three years. The audience in Brno has already been introduced to a number of outstanding personalities and ensembles with whom Barbara Maria Willi regularly cooperates. This year's opening concert, traditionally held on Wednesday, 11 February, in the hall of the Convent of the Merciful Brothers with a subtitle Music in Motion offered a combination of the art of the fortepiano with flute played by Sofia Mavrogenidou and accompanied by young dancers Klementýna Anna Špičková and Adam Mišo, choreographed by David Strnad. more
The final concert of this year’s instalment of the Barbara Maria Willi Presents series offered a unique project that on 4 December brought together two ensembles in the Convent of the Brothers of Mercy: Cappella Pratensis and Ramillete de Tonos. They showed the audience the many different ways in which one can work with the polyphonic repertoire of the 15th and 16th centuries. The programme intertwined sacred and secular music, and purely vocal, vocal-instrumental and purely instrumental pieces. more
The rediscovery and digitisation of the Brno polyphonic manuscripts BAM 1 and BAM 2 has opened a new chapter in the study and performance of Renaissance music. At the crossroads of historical research, modern technology, and artistic interpretation stands Past Forward, a cross-border project connecting institutions from the Netherlands, Belgium and the Czech Republic. At its artistic core are two musicians whose approaches complement each other: Tim Braithwaite, artistic director of Cappella Pratensis, and Kateřina Maňáková, lutenist, teacher of early plucked instruments at Janáček Academy of Performing Arts and guarantor of the entire initiative. In this conversation, they discuss working with previously overlooked sources, the challenges of historically informed performance, the promises of international collaboration, and their vision for the future of early-music interpretation. more
The concert by Filharmonie Brno under Dennis Russell Davies on Thursday 6 November in Besední dům offered a fascinating programme combining the work of two contemporary composers from the former Soviet Union. The performers included Armenian baritone Aksel Daveyan, violist Julian Veverica, percussionist Lukáš Krejčí, and the Austrian Hard-Chor Linz choir under choirmaster Alexander Koller. more
Brno-born pianist and Director General of the Czech Philharmonic, David Mareček, is appearing together with cellist Václav Petr on a concert tour in South Korea. During the first week of November, the duo is presenting Czech repertoire on prestigious stages, including the Seogwipo Arts Center, Yongin Poeun Art Hall and Daegu Concert House. more
Editorial
Czech Dreams in Lviv: Festival of Czech-Ukrainian Partnership
The third edition of Czech Dreams in Lviv, a festival dedicated to Czech-Ukrainian cultural cooperation, begins in Lviv today. The event is also one of the flagship programmes of the Brno UNESCO City of Music office. Musicians and visual artists from both countries will take part, alongside a range of educational projects and networking events for representatives of partner institutions from the Czech Republic and Ukraine. This popular recurring event grew out of the highly successful Czech-Ukrainian Partnership Week held in Lviv in 2024, which received an exceptionally positive response from both professionals and the wider public and was described as one of the most significant cultural initiatives in Ukraine since the outbreak of the war. more
Brno Contemporary Orchestra: Strange music and dance to fill former textile factory
Brno Contemporary Orchestra, in collaboration with the Imediatus Biennale festival, will bring together improvised and composed music and dance. The programme includes works by major twentieth-century composers Roman Haubenstock-Ramati, Gavin Bryars and Tom Johnson, as well as a piece by Pavel Zlámal composed during the pandemic. Daniel Matej’s multimedia music performance inspired by David Lynch will receive its world premiere. The industrial setting of the former textile dye works at the Mosilana complex will add to the atmosphere. The concert, entitled oBCOování s dUCHEM Alfreda Jarryho, pays tribute to Alfred Jarry, creator of King Ubu and Mother Ubu. more
Markéta Pimek Habalová will become Artistic Director of the Ballet of the National Theatre Brno from the 2028/2029 season. A long-standing member of the company, she is also a dance teacher, choreographer and director, and a close collaborator of the current Artistic Director, Mário Radačovský. more
Second Rousínov Music Festival begins today
Following last year’s inaugural edition, the Rousínov Music Festival returns for a second year, opening today at the Church of St Philip and St James with the local Danielis Choir. Once again, the festival will bring a range of interesting performers to the town and offer audiences several evenings of live music. more
Special recital marking Richard Novák’s 95th birthday added to Janáček Brno programme
A special concert evening has been added to the programme of the 10th Janáček Brno 2026 festival. Bass Richard Novák, a legendary figure in Czech opera and song, will celebrate his 95th birthday. To mark the occasion, he’ll perform a selection from his favourite song repertoire at the Reduta Theatre. He’ll be accompanied at the piano by conductor and pianist Ondrej Olos. more
Janáček for the youngest: Musical world full of adventure
Janáček Brno 2026 also includes a programme for its youngest audiences, promising playful discovery, creative workshops and family adventures. more
The autumn programme of the 25th JazzFestBrno will open with Snarky Puppy, five-time Grammy winners and one of the most influential instrumental bands of our time. Between now and the end of the year, the festival will offer eleven evenings of music, taking place both at familiar venues such as Sono and Cabaret des Péchés and in more unusual settings – the underground spaces of Brno’s water reservoirs, Villa Tugendhat, Kyjov and Letovice. more
September 2026 Cultural Newsletter from the Culture Department of the BCM
Brno’s cultural newsletter brings you an overview of upcoming events and opportunities relating to theatres, clubs and other cultural activities in the city. more
All the Beauties of the World: Poetic music-theatre production with dance by ProART Company
ProART Company is preparing an intimate theatrical mosaic based on the life and work of the poet Jaroslav Seifert. The production marks the 125th anniversary of his birth. Its Brno premiere will take place at the Löw-Beer Villa. more
The Great Courtyard of Špilberk Castle will host the jazz event of the summer on Thursday, 20 August. The programme, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Miles Davis’s birth will bring together trumpeter Erik Truffaz, guitarist David Kollar and the Gustav Brom Czech Radio Big Band on one stage. more
